The Jets<\/a> announced that Snell died Tuesday morning on Long Island, New York.<\/p>\nSnell teamed with Emerson Boozer to give Joe Namath and New York a formidable backfield, helping the AFL\u2019s Jets pull off one of sports\u2019 greatest upsets with a 16-7 victory over the NFL\u2019s heavily favored Baltimore Colts in the 1969 Super Bowl.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m really sad to hear that he passed,\u201d Namath told the Jets\u2019 website. \u201cMatt was not only a hell of a player \u2014 he was a terrific teammate and without him, we wouldn\u2019t have had a chance to win a championship.\u201d<\/p>\n
With the game scoreless in the second quarter, Snell went off left tackle for a 4-yard touchdown run that gave the Jets a 7\u20130 lead \u2014 the first time in three Super Bowls that an AFL team led. <\/p>\n
New York used a run-blocking concept it called \u201c19 Straight\u201d \u2014 which is engraved on the championship rings of both Snell and Boozer \u2014 to perfection against the Colts. Snell finished with a then-Super Bowl-record 121 yards rushing on 30 carries, although Namath was selected the game\u2019s MVP.<\/p>\n
\u201cMatt Snell will forever hold a special place in the history of the New York Jets,\u201d Jets owner Woody Johnson said in a statement. \u201cHe was the embodiment of toughness, selflessness and belief \u2014 traits that defined our organization\u2019s proudest moments. His performance in Super Bowl III was nothing short of legendary. <\/p>\n
\u201cAgainst the odds, Matt set the tone with his physical running, delivering the Jets\u2019 lone touchdown and helping secure one of the most important victories in sports history.\u201d<\/p>\n
Snell, who grew up in the Long Island hamlet of Carle Place, stayed close to home his entire nine-year professional career with the Jets after four standout seasons at Ohio State. He was picked in the fourth round of the 1964 NFL draft by the Giants, the team for which he rooted as a youngster. But he chose to sign with the Jets after they selected him with the No. 3 overall pick in the AFL draft and presented him an opportunity to play right away.<\/p>\n
He made an immediate impact for the Jets in his first season, a year before Namath arrived, winning the AFL Rookie of the Year award after rushing for 945 yards, including a then-franchise record 180-yard performance on 31 carries against the Houston Oilers. Both rushing marks remain Jets rookie records.<\/p>\n
Snell made the AFL All-Star team three times and was a first-team All-AFL selection in 1969, building a reputation as a terrific ball carrier with soft hands as a receiver and for being a punishing pass blocker.<\/p>\n
Snell\u2019s physical approach took its toll, though, as he dealt with several injuries, particularly late in his career. He tore cartilage in a knee in 1967 and missed seven games. Three years later, Snell was limited to three games after tearing an Achilles tendon. He played in only nine games over the next two seasons because of a knee injury in 1971 and a ruptured spleen the following year.<\/p>\n
Snell retired after the 1972 season, finishing with 4,285 yards rushing \u2014 still fourth on the franchise\u2019s career list \u2014 24 touchdowns, along with 193 receptions for 1,375 yards and seven scores.<\/p>\n
After his years on the gridiron, Snell turned his attention to Wall Street, becoming a partner for Defco Securities Inc. He also became a familiar face on TV as the first pitchman for Miller Lite beer and its \u201cTastes Great, Less Filling\u201d ad campaign. Snell later created his own construction company in New Jersey and worked there for several years.<\/p>\n
He also put his football career far behind him, mostly turning down interviews or having contact with his former team. Snell and Boozer were inducted into the Jets\u2019 Ring of Honor together in 2015, but Snell refused to attend the ceremony. <\/p>\n
He revealed in Bob Lederer\u2019s book, \u201cBeyond Broadway Joe: The Super Bowl Team That Changed Football\u201d in 2018 that he held a grudge against the team. Snell claimed the Jets reneged on a promise made by then-part owner Sonny Werblin that Snell would have a place with the team for life if it won the title. Werblin was bought out by his partners, including Leon Hess, before the Super Bowl-winning season.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt may be that no one in Jets management knew about Sonny\u2019s promises to me, but in 1974, there was a recession and I was in line for a construction job,\u201d Snell said in Lederer\u2019s book. \u201cI asked the Jets for a reference. They told me they didn\u2019t do that for players. They said they couldn\u2019t do it! Can you believe that? I can\u2019t prove it, but I don\u2019t think any of that would have ever happened if Sonny were in charge. That\u2019s why I don\u2019t get along with the organization now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Snell was born on Aug. 18, 1941, in Garfield, Georgia, but moved to New York as a youngster. He became a star at Carle Place High School, where he\u2019s in the school\u2019s athletic hall of fame. He went on to even bigger fame in college at Ohio State, first as a lead blocker for the likes of Paul Warfield and Bob Ferguson and then as a defensive end. He moved into the starting fullback role as a senior and was chosen the Buckeyes\u2019 MVP. <\/p>\n
In 2000, Snell was selected to Ohio State\u2019s all-century football team as a defensive end.<\/p>\n
He is survived by his wife Sharon, son Beau and daughter Jada, grandson Donte, as well as great-nephew Benny Snell Jr., a former running back for the Pittsburgh Steelers.<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
AP NFL: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/nfl<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Matt Snell, the powerful running back who scored the New York Jets\u2019 only touchdown in their Super Bowl…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":806111,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2051],"tags":[99824,112767,112765,112763,7,392,226,13638,112766,98115,14285,1917,7431,255,2321,2097,6,498,15377,16175,566,996,69,112768,112764,9,505,9068],"class_list":["post-806110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-jets","tag-benny-snell","tag-bob-ferguson","tag-bob-lederer","tag-emerson-boozer","tag-football","tag-indianapolis-colts","tag-jets","tag-joe-namath","tag-leon-hess","tag-matt-snell","tag-new-jersey","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-jets","tag-newyork","tag-newyorkjets","tag-nfl","tag-nfl-football","tag-nfl-super-bowl","tag-notable-deaths","tag-oh-state-wire","tag-ohio","tag-ohio-state-buckeyes","tag-paul-warfield","tag-sonny-werblin","tag-sports","tag-super-bowl","tag-woody-johnson"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116209727750551396","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/806110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=806110"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/806110\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/806111"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=806110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=806110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=806110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}